Electrochemiluminescent (ECL) measurement techniques derive from electrochemistry and chemiluminescent detection techniques. Electrochemistry deals generally with the relation of electricity to chemical changes and with the interconversion of chemical and electrical energy, while chemiluminescence deals generally with the chemical stimulation of luminescence, i.e., the emission of light by a mechanism other than incandescence, and includes techniques for identifying the presence and/or concentration of an analyte of interest.
ECL techniques are also useful in the detection and measurement of analytes of interest. For example, in a binding assay methodology, a mixture is formed of a sample containing an unknown amount of an analyte of interest to be determined and a known amount of a reactant which is conjugated with an ECL label. The mixture is incubated to allow the labeled reactant to bind to the analyte. After incubation, the mixture is separated into two fractions: a bound and an unbound fraction. The bound fraction is labeled reactant bound to analyte and the unbound fraction is the remaining unbound reactant. The incubated sample is then exposed to a voltammetric working electrode, that is, an electrode to which a voltage waveform is applied and from which a current from a redox reaction may be passed. The voltage waveform is selected to apply electrical energy to the sample at a particular time and in a particular manner to cause the sample to react with both its chemical environment and the applied electrical energy so as to be triggered to repeatedly emit electromagnetic radiation. Advantageously, the wavelength of the emitted radiation will be in the visible spectrum, i.e., visible light is emitted, and the ECL measurement of interest is the intensity of this light. In the particular example of a binding assay, the bound and unbound fractions of the labeled reactant will emit different amounts of light at a known wavelength, with the bound fraction generally emitting no ECL light at all. The measured intensity at the known wavelength is indicative of the amount of the bound and/or unbound fraction, respectively, and from such measurements one skilled in the art can determine the amount of analyte in the sample.
It will be understood that many different methodologies may be used to produce the ECL sample and that many different analyses may be performed on the measured light intensities at various wavelengths to detect, measure and identify the analytes of interest. The present invention is not directed to these preliminary or final steps, but rather is directed to the intermediate step of inducing and detecting the ECL radiation and more particularly is directed to an advantageous computer-controlled instrument for this purpose. Other aspects of ECL techniques relating to the preliminary and final steps are discussed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/188,258, filed Apr. 29, 1988 and PCT Patent Application No. US87/00987. The disclosures of these two applications are incorporated herein.
An apparatus for conducting measurements of ECL phenomena must meet precise specifications in its operation. It has been found that even small variations in how the sample is brought into the apparatus, in the state of the voltammetric electrode, or in the applied voltage waveform can result in variations in the induced ECL light intensity which are too large to neglect In particular, it has been found that known ECL moieties react sensitively to the voltage waveforms, and distinguish between constant voltages, ramps, steps and other shapes Indeed, these ECL moieties react to even small variations within the waveforms. As a result, the conventional approximation of a ramp voltage waveform with a digitally generated staircase voltage waveform, i.e., a series of voltage steps, has been found by the present assignee to be ineffective unless the steps are extremely fine. Otherwise, the individual constant voltages and steps are detected by the ECL moieties, which produce light intensities different from those produced in response to a true ramp voltage waveform Although conventional fine staircase generators are commercially available, they are very expensive.